Tower of London and Trafalgar Square
Our morning was spent at the Tower of London at one side of the Tower Bridge. It's 18.5 acres ... it houses the Crown Jewels ... and has seen historical battles and housed kings.
We got there not long after opening, following published advice to avoid big crowds. We wanted to see the guided tour but had about an hour to kill beforehand so we spent some time wandering the grounds and taking pictures. Like this one with Sarah and a Beefeater.
And with a bear. (Aw, isn't she cute?)
Then we saw the Crown Jewels. First we saw a bunch of things made out of gold, some from as long ago as the 1600s: mace, horns, swords. Then we passed through the door of a vault and saw heavily-jewelled crowns, sceptres, orbs, coronation spoons, robes, stoles and spurs, plus more gold: dishes, flagons, chalices, and a massive punch bowl. No pictures were allowed, of course.
Then we started our tour, but the group was so large that once we moved, we could barely hear the speaker, so we split off. So we went through an exhibit on the castle. Here's me. It's good to be King.
Sarah and I climbed the inner wall and saw another exhibit on the process of making diamonds. One of the crowns had its diamonds removed; its count was 12,314! It was like two sugarbowls upturned. There were also reproductions of the Cullinan diamonds. The first cut yielded a diamond of 530 carats.
That rounded our morning out. We got a snack at a cafe, then decided to take a cab to our next destination, the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, as the Underground would have taken multiple lines and it had begun raining. We were treated to a lively monologue from our Cockney cabbie. It was nonstop. Margo loved it.
So first we toured the National Gallery. Now, I'll be the first to admit that my tastes in art are rather plebian, and that this gallery has the good stuff. Margo was into it: she got an audio guide right away. However, when touring the first two rooms took ten minutes apiece, and there are about 40 rooms, I thought Sarah and I might skip out a bit, except Sarah wanted to stay, so I got a bite to eat, then popped up to Haymarket and Leicester Square to do some exploring. I mean, you can only see so many angels and cherubs and Madonnas at a time, you know?
An hour or so later, I thought I'd regain the gallery and start working backward from the 1900s hoping to run into them. I didn't since they were in the cafe. But I got to see lots more naked chubby Europeans so it wasn't so bad.
Then when Margo had had her share of ancient, obsolete art, we went out to Trafalgar Square to hang out and get some pictures. Now here's the caption you've been waiting for. It's Nelson's Column! Plus some other guy on a pole.
Then Sarah got to climb and hang with one of the lions.
Here's a shot that shows a bit more of Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background.
And that's about all that was noteworthy today. Our vacation days are running out (only three left!) so we're getting anxious to get back to the mundane world of work and school and such.
We got there not long after opening, following published advice to avoid big crowds. We wanted to see the guided tour but had about an hour to kill beforehand so we spent some time wandering the grounds and taking pictures. Like this one with Sarah and a Beefeater.
And with a bear. (Aw, isn't she cute?)
Then we saw the Crown Jewels. First we saw a bunch of things made out of gold, some from as long ago as the 1600s: mace, horns, swords. Then we passed through the door of a vault and saw heavily-jewelled crowns, sceptres, orbs, coronation spoons, robes, stoles and spurs, plus more gold: dishes, flagons, chalices, and a massive punch bowl. No pictures were allowed, of course.
Then we started our tour, but the group was so large that once we moved, we could barely hear the speaker, so we split off. So we went through an exhibit on the castle. Here's me. It's good to be King.
Sarah and I climbed the inner wall and saw another exhibit on the process of making diamonds. One of the crowns had its diamonds removed; its count was 12,314! It was like two sugarbowls upturned. There were also reproductions of the Cullinan diamonds. The first cut yielded a diamond of 530 carats.
That rounded our morning out. We got a snack at a cafe, then decided to take a cab to our next destination, the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, as the Underground would have taken multiple lines and it had begun raining. We were treated to a lively monologue from our Cockney cabbie. It was nonstop. Margo loved it.
So first we toured the National Gallery. Now, I'll be the first to admit that my tastes in art are rather plebian, and that this gallery has the good stuff. Margo was into it: she got an audio guide right away. However, when touring the first two rooms took ten minutes apiece, and there are about 40 rooms, I thought Sarah and I might skip out a bit, except Sarah wanted to stay, so I got a bite to eat, then popped up to Haymarket and Leicester Square to do some exploring. I mean, you can only see so many angels and cherubs and Madonnas at a time, you know?
An hour or so later, I thought I'd regain the gallery and start working backward from the 1900s hoping to run into them. I didn't since they were in the cafe. But I got to see lots more naked chubby Europeans so it wasn't so bad.
Then when Margo had had her share of ancient, obsolete art, we went out to Trafalgar Square to hang out and get some pictures. Now here's the caption you've been waiting for. It's Nelson's Column! Plus some other guy on a pole.
Then Sarah got to climb and hang with one of the lions.
Here's a shot that shows a bit more of Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background.
And that's about all that was noteworthy today. Our vacation days are running out (only three left!) so we're getting anxious to get back to the mundane world of work and school and such.
posted by Michael Nelson at 12:18 pm
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